The Great Puer Tea Heist

At 3:06 am a big rock slammed the front window of the Seven Cups teahouse in Tucson setting up a classic smash and grab robbery. The thieves jumped through the broken window and grabbed some aged puer tea cakes, a storage container of Silver Needle white tea, and our iMac that serves as our point of sales computer. Even though there was cash in the (open) cash drawer, it was not touched. The thieves, wearing latex gloves, jumped in their getaway car and tried to make their escape.

Upon hearing the crash of the front window, two of our neighbors looked out their window across the street and set out to catch the thieves. Here is the Daily Stars version of what they did. All of us at Seven Cups want to thank them, and the Tucson Police. We are really lucky to have such great neighbors and we are so proud to be a community teahouse.

So does this mean that aged puer tea has become recognized as valuable in America? Can we expect in the future to see Brad Pitt and George Clooney in a heist movie where puer is the object of their conspiring? It is interesting that our young thieves had come in to case the teahouse the afternoon before suggesting more of a plot than just driving by and becoming gripped by a spontaneous compulsion. One of our staff identified them.

They certainly didn’t count on the motivation of our neighbors to keep our neighbor safe, even if it meant chasing down thieves at 3 in the morning. I wonder how the scene would look through Steven Soderbergh hand held cameras.

Thank You Alex and Richard. Our whole neighborhood is grateful to have you as neighbors. See you in the movies.

The first cup kisses away my thirst,
and my loneliness is quelled by the second.
The third gives insight worthy of ancient scrolls,
and the fourth exiles my troubles.
My body becomes lighter with the fifth,
and the sixth sends word from immortals.
But the seventh —oh the seventh cup— if I drink you,
a wind will hurry my wings toward the sacred island.